To love God and to believe in God are equally important. We must believe in Him and love Him; then His grace, His blessing, and His presence will come upon us. For the grace of God, the blessing of God, and the presence of God to come upon us, we have to love Him. Of course, those who do not believe in God would not love God; for one to love, he first has to believe. If we love Him, we will turn to Him. We always hear people say that we have to wait for God; in fact, this is not correct. It is not we who wait for God, but it is God who waits for us. God is waiting for us to turn to Him so that He can answer our prayers and give us power. It is not we who wait for God, but it is God who is waiting for us. As we have illustrated before, the rain outside may be heavy, but if the cup is facing downward, how can we expect the rainwater to enter into the cup? If a person is not willing to turn to God, how can the grace of God come upon such a one? God is always waiting for us to turn from the earth to the heavens. Thus, it is not man who waits for God’s grace, but it is God who is waiting for man to receive Him as grace day by day.
Here is the problem: It is not that easy for man’s heart to turn to God. Only those who have been touched by the Lord’s love can easily receive the grace of God. Those who do not have faith will easily obtain faith after they have consecrated themselves to the Lord. Those who do not have holiness will easily obtain holiness after consecration. Those who do not have light will easily obtain light after consecration. Those who do not have the presence of God will have the presence of God after consecration. Those who do not have power will have power in their daily lives after consecration. Everything depends upon whether or not we have our heart turned to the Lord. If our heart is turned to the Lord, then the Lord Himself, the grace of the Lord, spiritual light, and spiritual riches will all be poured into us. But if our heart is not turned to the Lord, even if the Lord grants us grace, there is no way for grace to enter into us, just as the rainwater cannot enter into the cup.
What is consecration? Consecration is to turn to God. Formerly, we wanted something apart from God, but now we are encouraged by the Lord’s love from within, we turn to God, and we want only God Himself. Whoever turns to God in this way easily touches God and receives God’s grace. If we are willing to give ourselves to God like this, when we pray, our prayer will become very special; when we read the Bible, the Bible will become full of light to us; when we preach the gospel, our gospel preaching will become very powerful. A Christian should thoroughly consecrate himself to the Lord at least once, if not several times. Then, if after a period of time he feels that his past consecration was not thorough enough, he should consecrate himself thoroughly a second time. After some more time he may even feel that his second consecration was not thorough enough. Then he should consecrate himself to the Lord once again. Even after a further period of time, he may consecrate himself absolutely to the Lord once again. The more he consecrates to the Lord like this, the more he will touch the Lord and the more he will be gained by the Lord. A person like this will walk on the Lord’s way and grow in life every day.
After we have consecrated ourselves to the Lord, we have to follow the Lord’s feeling absolutely. After we have consecrated ourselves to the Lord, our inner being is enlightened. As a result, we will know what pleases the Lord and we will follow our inner feeling. Romans 12:1 says that we should present our bodies a living sacrifice to God. If we present ourselves to God in this way, the result will be that we know the well pleasing and perfect will of God. God will let us know what is pleasing to Him, and He will also let us know what is not pleasing to Him. When He does this, we have to obey every single feeling within us absolutely. If a Christian merely listens to doctrines and exhortations without practicing to follow the Lord’s inner leading and without walking on the Lord’s way, his listening does not mean anything. The most precious thing about a Christian is that after he has consecrated himself to the Lord, he is able to sense what is pleasing to the Lord, what is not pleasing to Him, and is able to live according to that feeling. This is the most valuable thing in the Christian experience.
There was once a sister who was very fashionable. One day she gave herself to the Lord and said, “O Lord, from now on, I consecrate myself to You. I do not want anything apart from You; whether I can live this way or not, I do not care. I just give myself to You.” Two or three days after she prayed, she wore a very fashionable dress to the meeting. No one had ever told her that she should not wear that dress, and she had never read in the Bible that she should not wear such a dress. Nevertheless, after her consecration when she had taken the dress out of her closet, within her she felt that she should not. She did not understand, so she stood there awhile analyzing whether or not it is sinful to wear such a dress. Then she took the dress out of the closet, and the uncomfortable feeling remained within her. After she put the dress on, she felt even more uncomfortable. Then she reasoned with herself that in the past when she attended the Lord’s Day meeting, the preacher never told her that she was not allowed to wear that dress. Eventually, she left the house wearing the dress.
After she left the house, she had the feeling that she should go back into the house, but she still did not understand why. While she was walking, her inner being was arguing with her, “You could wear this dress in the past but not today. Other people can wear this dress but not you.” She really did not have the peace within. When she arrived at the entrance of the meeting hall, the urging within her to go home made her very uncomfortable. She had no way to deal with this pressing feeling, so at the very moment when she was crossing the threshold of the meeting hall, she withdrew and went back home. When she went home, she was totally released because her inner being was in harmony with her outer man. After she came back to the meeting hall in another dress, the meeting that day was enjoyable to her in an unprecedented way. That day she learned the lesson that man can truly live before God and in fellowship with Him.
How far a person will walk on the Lord’s way depends entirely on how much he lives before God. Once our heart turns to God, we will immediately have God’s feeling and know what is of God and what is not of God. This kind of experience is only given to those who are walking on God’s way. This kind of living is not according to the natural human life, but according to the life within.
There is a sister who once went to buy some fabric. In the fabric shop she saw a piece of wool fabric. She wanted to buy it, but her inner being told her not to buy it but instead to send the money to a certain place to help with the Lord’s work there. After she considered for awhile, she bought the fabric. After she went home, she felt very unpeaceful for three days. After three days she told a brother about this matter. She told him, “I bought a piece of fabric, but in the end I actually bought a sin.” That brother just happened to be in need of some fabric, so he asked her to resell it to him. Then this sister followed her inner feeling and offered the money that she received from selling the fabric to the Lord’s work.
We have to obey the inner feeling. Otherwise, sooner or later we have to confess this sin of disobedience, just like that sister did. This shows us that one who walks on God’s way, must, at a minimum, take care of a few matters: to thoroughly confess all his sins before God, to clearly deal with all his sins before the world, and to entirely consecrate himself to the Lord. By doing this, he will have the Lord’s presence within, and he will be able to have fellowship with the Lord and to have the Lord’s feeling. Once he has the Lord’s feeling, he should obey every feeling that he receives from the Lord. The more he obeys these feelings, the more sensitive his inner being will become. May the Lord have mercy on us. May He save each one of us from being one who merely listens to doctrines and cause us to be those who walk on His way with a turned heart.